Wednesday, April 25, 2012

The SCSL and the Taylor Judgment

Tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. Hague time, Trial Chamber II of the
Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) will release its judgment in the case of
Charles Taylor, former President of Liberia. This event will also be streamed
live, and can be viewed online (see instructions here). IntLawGrrls
will be publishing a series of posts on the Taylor judgment.

Taylor was charged with 11 counts alleging responsibility
for crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious violations of
international humanitarian law committed by rebel forces in Sierra Leone during
the country’s civil war. He pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Taylor’s
trial opened on June 4, 2007, in The Hague, but was adjourned immediately after
the Prosecution’s opening statement when Mr. Taylor dismissed his defence team
and requested new representation. He subsequently secured new defence counsel
and witness testimony commenced on January 7, 2008. Closing arguments took
place in February and March 2011.
The prosecution presented 94 witnesses in
person, and written statements from four additional witnesses. The defence
presented 21 witnesses, including Taylor himself. The trial judges have considered 50,000 pages of witness testimony and 1,520 exhibits.
If Taylor is acquitted on all charges, the appeals process will begin immediately.
If he is found guilty on any of the 11 counts, the Trial Chamber will schedule
sentencing proceedings. See this SCSL press release for more details.

Given the impending release of the Taylor judgment, it is a
good time to review developments at the SCSL since our last SCSL-related post:

► At the end of 2011, as a result of the intense difficulties
in securing adequate voluntary state contributions to cover its budget, the
United Nations General Assembly agreed to a subvention of over $9 million USD
to cover the SCSL's 2012 budget. This is meant to cover operations of the Court to
the close of any Taylor appeals process.

►On January 31, Taylor’s defence team filed a motion to
request that his case be re-opened. The defence team wished to argue that the December
7, 2011 Panel of Experts Report on Liberia showed that Liberian fighters could
easily cross the Cote d’Ivoire border for their own gains, and that this
demonstrates that Liberian fighters could do the same during the Sierra Leonean
conflict. This request was denied on February 9.

►On February 27, in preparation for expected appeals in the
Taylor case, Justice Philip Waki of Kenya was sworn in as an alternate judge of
the SCSL’s Appeals Chamber.

►In early March, Taylor’s defence team requested that the
April 26 date for the release of the judgment be changed, as Taylor’s lead
counsel had prior engagements on that date and because Sierra Leone celebrates
its 51st independence anniversary on April 27. This request was
unanimously dismissed by Trial Chamber II.

►On March 26, the United Kingdom announced additional funding
for the SCSL in the amount of £600,000, bringing the UK’s total contribution to
the SCSL to £27.6 million since 2002.

►At present, the SCSL continues to prepare for its transitionto the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone. It is also reducing staff, liquidating
its assets and preparing for handover of the physical site in Freetown. The
Residual Special Court is expected to have a budget of $1.6 million in its
first year, all of which is to be covered by voluntary contributions.